


Mako's Vacation

by old_and_new_friends



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen, Mako Centric, Mako spends time with kids, Orphanage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: Mako's forced to take a vacation but he has no clue what to do with it until he stumbles across an orphanage he and his brother once stayed at. Lin told him he could do whatever he wanted other than work, but volunteering isn't work.Basically a story about Mako bonding with orphans.
Relationships: Mako & Original Characters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80
Collections: Mako (Avatar) Appreciation <3





	Mako's Vacation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Princeasimdiya12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princeasimdiya12/gifts).



> Warnings: One kid is implied to come from an abusive background.

“Mako," Lin said stepping into his new office. "I need you to do something for me."

"Sure thing, Chief," Mako replied. "What's going on?"

"I need you to take a vacation," Lin said.

Mako looked up from his desk to stare across at Lin. 

"Um, what?" Mako asked.

"A vacation," Lin repeated, "it’s when you take off time from work and go somewhere to relax? I'm sure you've never heard of one before because you haven't taken one since you started working here, and at one point lived under your own desk. Now you've accumulated a month of rollover vacation time. I've been told by higher ups that you have to take at least half of that vacation time this year, and the year is almost over."

"But what if you need me? Or one of the gangs does something and I'm not here to stop them?" Mako asked.

"Kid," Lin said with a sigh, "we survived without you four years ago, we can make it two to four weeks without you now. Even I take time off kid and I'm a certified workaholic. This week and next, if I see you at the precinct, any of the precincts, I'm coming after you."

"But," Mako said. Lin cut him off.

"My hands are tied kid," Lin said, "please, even if you stay home for a week, just stop working."

"What am I supposed to do?" Mako asked as Lin forcibly lifted him from his chair and marched him towards the door.

"I don't know kid," Lin replied, "call up your friends or your brother and go hang out. Find a person and go on a date. Take a vacation to the Fire Nation. I really don't care, Mako just don't come here."

"But," Mako said, turning to ask another question. It was too late. Lin had already shut the door in his face.

She gave him her I'm watching you gesture through the glass door.

Mako sighed. He hadn't had free time in, well, ever. He didn't know what to do with it.

It was a little before lunch time, so Mako decided his first step was to head to the restaurant he and his brother met up at every day for lunch. It was between the precinct Mako worked at and President Moon's office where his brother worked.

He had to wait nearly an hour for his brother and, had the restaurant been busier and the owners not known him, he probably would have been kicked out before Bolin even got there.

"Hey, Mako," Bolin said, sliding into the booth across from him, "you're here early."

"I'm on vacation so I have the time," Mako grumbled.

Bolin paused in opening his menu.

"You're taking a vacation?" Bolin asked in disbelief, "You?"

"Chief's making me," Mako explained, "I've accumulated too much time and now I'm being forced to take two weeks off. I have no clue what I'm going to do."

"Wow," Bolin said, his eyes wide, "I never thought I'd ever see you take a vacation. You could try calling up Korra or Asami. Oh, maybe go to the park and see if you could pick up a nice girl, or guy."

Bolin tacked on the last part awkwardly as if just remembering Mako had come out as bisexual three months ago.

"Nah," Mako said, "Asami's busy with a new invention. I remember Korra complaining that it was taking up all her girlfriend's time. I might call Korra, maybe I'll get lucky and some crazy Avatar thing will happen while we hang out."

"That doesn't sound very relaxing," Bolin said. "Why don't you go stay with Grandma and spend some time with our family."

Mako made a face. He loved his family, and he was glad they had found them and brought them to the city, but Mako could only handle so much of their extended family, particularly his cousin, Tu.

"Oh!" Bolin said, "Opal is visiting the city this week with Jinora and Kai! You could hang out with those two."

Mako looked across the table at his brother. Bolin wasn't kidding, which told Mako his brother really wanted him to babysit while Bolin and Opal went somewhere.  
It said a lot about how Mako's next two weeks were looking that he didn't disagree.

Mako left the restaurant with plans to meet up with Kai and Jinora the next morning and feeling slightly pathetic.

As he was walking home, he past one of the many orphanages in the city. This one looked more familiar than most. Mako paused and mentally stripped away the new coat of white paint. 

Underneath it could be any color but Mako remembered it as a dark green. It had been the orphanage he and his brother had been dropped off at. The orphanage that had gone under due to low funding as they didn’t have enough kids to support their costs. The closing of the orphanage had led to him and his brother living on the streets when they got lost in the shuffle of relocation. 

Apparently, it had been reinstated, which sadly meant there were enough homeless kids in the area to support it.

There was a sign outside the door that read, "Volunteers needed! Spend time playing with and helping our kids! Skills needed: cooking, cleaning, childcare experience. Background check required before acceptance."

Mako contemplated it for a moment. He could cook and clean, having had to do so with his brother over the years. He didn't really have professional childcare experience but he did raise his brother. He was a Detective, he could easily pass a background check, his criminal record having been sealed of anything before he was eighteen years old by Lin, and already had one on file.

He looked at the building one more time before shaking his head and moving on. They weren't looking for some like him.

The next day found Mako sitting across from the young airbending couple in a smoothie shop.

"So," Kai said, slowly, "any particular reason you wanted to hang out with us?"

"Opal's supposed to be babysitting us," Jinora answered before Mako could, "because dad doesn't trust us in the city by ourselves. Mako's filling in because Opal wants alone time with Bolin."

Mako pointed at Jinora. "What she said," Mako said.

"But don't you have a job?" Kai asked. He was a bit too insistent on Mako leaving them alone, for Mako to not be suspicious but at the same time, neither of them were his kids, so he found it hard to bother caring.

Mako laid his head on the table. "I'm on a forced vacation," Mako replied. "I don't know what to do with it."

"Why don't you do volunteer work?" Jinora suggested. "Like at an animal shelter, or a soup kitchen or one of the Republic City Beach clean ups. Then you'd get to still do work but it would count as time off."

Mako recalled that sign outside his first and only orphanage. He had contemplated it, and now that Jinora was backing it up, Mako figured maybe the world was giving him a sign.

"Yeah," Mako said, softly to himself, "yeah, I just might.”

He paused to look across the table at the two young airbenders. Jinora had just turned sixteen and Kai was almost seventeen, the idea that they needed a babysitter was slightly ridiculous considering what Mako and his friends were doing at their age.

“You two will be okay by yourselves, right?” Mako asked.

“I’m the leader of the Air Nation,” Jinora said.

“Yeah, I kind of grew up on the streets, I think I can handle walking around the city with my girlfriend,” Kai replied.

“Cool,” Mako said, grabbing his smoothie and leaving the two teenagers behind.

He walked with confidence to the orphanage but once again paused outside the doors. He wasn’t really qualified. They would turn him away. Maybe he should go to the soup kitchen instead.

Mako stood on the sidewalk deliberating, but before he could decide one way or another, a woman came out of the building.

“Excuse me,” she said. Her tone was slightly wary and defensive. “Can I help you, sir? Why are you staring at our building?”

Mako startled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah,” Mako said, awkwardly pointing at the volunteer sign, “I wanted to, um, never mind, sorry.”

Mako turned to quickly walk off when they woman called out to him.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, “if you want to volunteer you can come inside and we can see about setting up an application. I was just concerned with the way you were staring at the building.”

Mako saw that she was blushing, most likely in embarrassment for accusing Mako of misconduct. Mako shrugged it off.

He stared up at the building again before taking a deep breath and following the woman inside.

The hallways were still cramped like he remembered them being, but the new light, yellow walls made the room seem bigger, even as Mako had to squeeze around the coat rack to get past the stairs.

“As I said,” the woman stated, “I had to be careful, orphanages attract all sorts of unsavory types for various reasons.”

“It’s fine,” Mako mumbled.

“So, do you have any of the skills we need?” the woman asked, looking slightly doubtful at Mako.

Mako blushed, knowing that he really didn’t.

“Um, sort of?” Mako said, “I can cook and clean. I don’t really have professional childcare experience but I did raise my brother.”

The woman didn’t seem impressed by that and Mako felt his heart sink. He didn’t realize just how much he actually wanted to help out until he was nearly being refused.

“I,” Mako stumbled over his words, “I’m a Detective for the city. I work under Chief Beifong. I’ve dealt with a few kids over my career.”

Mako didn’t mention his personal experience growing up with homeless kids as well. It wasn’t this woman’s business, but the truth was pulled from him regardless.

“Mako?” came a voice Mako vaguely recalled from his childhood. “Oh, I’d recognize those eyebrows anywhere.”

Mako turned slightly to see the cook that had worked at the orphanage back when Mako was here. He was surprised to see her here again, he figured she would have retired by now. Her name was Sirra, she was a non-bender from the Northern Water Tribe. Bolin had followed her everywhere the short time they had been here, which meant Mako was also always under her feet.

“Mako,” she asked, “do you remember me?”

“Yes,” Mako paused. Sirra had told Bolin and him to call her aunt, but Mako as a child had never felt comfortable doing so, but now, there was nothing really stopping him. “Aunt Sirra, Bolin and I followed you around for the seven or so months we were here. How’d you end up back here?”

“Oh,” she said, moving forwards to hug Mako. Mako let her but his own arms awkwardly stayed at his sides. “When I found out this place was opening back up, I sent in my resume as soon as possible. I haven’t worked for an orphanage in years but I just had to come back to this place.”

Mako nodded along to her story as the other woman suddenly looked at him in a new light.

“So, Mako,” Sirra said, “which orphanage did you and your brother get sent to? Most of the kids ended up at Moonstone Orphanage, out by the old probending arena. I started working there after this place closed but I never saw you and your brother, at least not until you two became probenders. Now that was some exciting news, as was your brother becoming a mover star. You were in the news recently yourself, weren’t you? You took down the colossus?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mako said, “I was just doing what I had to. My brother and I slipped through the cracks. We never got reassigned to a new orphanage and when this one went under my brother and I just stayed here until we got chased off by officers who thought we were breaking in for entertainment. We lived on the streets after that, till Toza, a probender took us in.”

Mako braced himself as Sirra pulled him into another hug, this one nearly back breaking.

“Oh, you poor boys,” she said, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

Mako patted Sirra on the back of her head.

“My name is Tesh,” said the woman who had originally brought Mako into the orphanage. “If you want, you can help Sirra back in the kitchen for today, and we will get everything else sorted for tomorrow.”

Mako nodded and accepted the subtle peace offering the woman was extending.

He spent the rest of the day helping Sirra prep food for dinner while also making sure the stew for lunch didn’t boil over. He wasn’t yet allowed out to the dinning room to give the kids the food, but he watched through the gap in the door.

There were eleven of them currently as this had only been a recent re-opening. There had been only four of them when Mako and Bolin had been brought in, years ago. Mako and Bolin had made six.

Two of them were older teens who were just waiting to turn eighteen, already aware that older teens didn’t usually get adopted and that they would likely spend the rest of their childhood here. One was so young he had to sit in high chairs and be spoon fed by Sirra.

The other eight kids, spanned from ages five at they youngest to twelve at the oldest, though most were on the younger side of that spectrum. Only two looked older than ten.

Tesh looked over and made eye contact with him through the door. Mako pulled back, hoping she wouldn’t think anything bad of him for looking. He turned back to the kitchen and started cleaning it up. Sirra told him he could help himself to a bowl of stew but Mako wasn’t really hungry.

The door behind him opened. “Come on,” Tesh said, when he turned around. “Your background check passed quickly with a call to your boss. She’s interesting by the way. If you want, you can come eat with us.”

Mako’s eyes widened before he nodded and followed her out to the dinning room. The kids stopped talking to look at the new comer and Mako nearly retreated back to the kitchen.

“Everyone,” Tesh said, “This is Mako. He works as a Detective for the city but he’s going to be helping out around here for the next two weeks.”

Mako didn’t recall volunteering that much time but then he realized Lin probably volunteered it for him.

The younger kids seemed interested while the older ones were wary. There was one kid that kept their eyes on Mako anytime he was up and moving. Mako tried to appear as non-threating as possible. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why that kid was cautious.

The table had quieted down with a stranger at it, but Sirra was never one for silence.

“Mako used to be a probender,” Sirra said, grabbing the attention of the younger kids. Their eyes went wide as they stared across at him.

“Whoa,” one kid exclaimed, “did you ever win a season?”

“Ah,” Mako said, “We would have, but the arena was kind of attacked before the match ended so, not really.”

“Are you referring to Amon?” One of the older teens, the female, asked.

“Yeah,” Mako said, “I helped take him down when he took over the city.”

“Wait a minute,” the eldest teen, a male who had to be nearing eighteen, at the table said in disbelief, “you mean to tell me this is Mako of Team Avatar? That Mako?”

“He is,” Tesh said.

“Can you teach me how to firebend?” he asked. “I haven’t been able to really learn but I want to.”

Mako looked to Sirra who nodded encouragingly then to Tesh who nodded.

“Um, sure,” Mako replied, “we can do that tomorrow, I guess.”

“I wanna learn too,” said a young girl who was barely tall enough to reached the table. She smiled a gapped tooth grin at Mako.

Mako nodded awkwardly, not having expected so much enthusiasm.

“Can you tell us about Avatar Korra?” A boy asked. Mako could tell from his darker completion and hair style that the kid was somewhat Water Tribe, if not fully. “She’s from the South Pole, like my mom was. Have you ever been there?”

“I’ve been there a few times,” Mako said, “mostly because that’s where Korra was going. Korra’s cool, she’s one of my best friends. She’s a pretty impressive person even before you add all the Avatar stuff on top.”

“Oh,” said a girl no older than seven, “are you in love with her?”

“Ah,” Mako said, his eyes widening, “not anymore, but we used to date, she’d dating Asami Sato, another one of our friends. She’s the head of Future Industries.”

Mako’s attention was grabbed by a sippy cup being handed to him. He turned his head to see he had sat next to the high chair and now the toddler in it was trying to invade his space.

“Um,” Mako said, taking the cup, “thank you?”

The toddler clapped his hands now that Mako was holding his cup for him. Mako tried to place it on the table but the toddler didn’t like that, so now Mako was just holding on to a sippy cup as the other kids and teens dogpiled him with more questions.

Mako was slightly worn out by the time he had left, but he was more than excited to return the next day.

Mako slowly learned the names of the kids during his second day at the orphanage.

The two firebenders were Sola, the young girl and Shidan, the eldest at the orphanage. Mako had learned while training them in the morning that Shidan was two months from being eighteen.

Mako had spent nearly two hours after training, talking to Shidan about his own life on the street and some options for Shidan when he had to leave. The two had quickly bonded over their lives as orphans and the popsicles Mako had brought for the kids.

With his mouth now stained purple, Mako got dragged into a game the kids were playing in the playroom. Mako was, ironically, force to play the cop to the five robbers.

Those playing the game consisted of: Keshu, the Water Tribe boy who idolized Korra, Uru, who was fascinated by Mako’s probending career, Lama, the young girl who took every opportunity she found to ask Mako about his relationship with Korra, and two bothers that reminded Mako of himself and Bolin, Bane and Hon. Bane was older at twelve while his brother was ten.

The game ended when Keshu and Lama got into an argument over Korra. They turned to Mako to answer the question but he really had no clue what Korra’s favorite ice cream was. He made up an answer that neither of them had said and that seemed to work.

Hopefully the kids would never meet Korra and find out Mako was a bold-faced liar.

Koli, the only other teenager in the orphanage, seemed to be keeping her distance. Shidan claimed it was because she had a crush on Mako, but something told Mako the young waterbender’s crush was on a different firebender. He felt slightly validated when the second Shidan left the room, Koli had no issue hanging around Mako.

Mako had to resist the urge to recruit her. Mako knew officer recruitment was seen as predatory in areas like this but Koli would make a brilliant one. The two of them quickly got lost in a discussion about Amon and the political turmoil of the city after his defeat. On second thought, Mako might mention her to his brother and President Moon.

He eventually settled down after lunch in the playroom, laid out over the soft pallets on the floor. If the kids wouldn’t lay down for a nap, Mako certainly would.

Most of the kids were old enough to leave him be as he napped, but Nan, the youngest outside of the toddler Mako still didn’t know the name of, didn’t care.

She climbed onto his stomach and plopped a book right on his face.

“Read, Mak,” She said. She either didn’t care that Mako had another letter in his name or she couldn’t pronounce it. There really was no telling with kids her age.

Mako pulled the book off his face and for a moment debated telling the five-year-old he’d read to her later, but instead he sighed and leaned up. Nan fell into his lap and Mako leaned against the playhouse behind him as he started reading the story of Aang’s Zoo Adventure.

Apparently, Aang and his friends had released a series of children’s books back when he was alive. Mako wouldn’t have known, up until he was sixteen, he couldn’t read very well, as he didn’t have time to develop that skill.

The story had drawn the attention of several of the other kids and before Mako knew it he had read at least seven short children’s books to the group. He was about to call an end to the impromptu reading circle when, Sado brought a book to him.

Sado was the most withdrawn of the kids, and Mako knew, even before Tesh told him, the reason why. Mako didn’t think Sado would have ever walked up to him, as afraid of men as he was, but nevertheless the kid stood shyly in front of Mako, holding out a book.

Mako slowly reached for it, pausing when Sado flinched slightly. When Sado realized Mako wasn’t going to hit him, Mako grabbed the book. It was one Mako had loved as a kid, The Cat with Seven Names.

Mako smiled and read one last book about a scam artist cat, before calling an end to reading time. The kids groaned but quickly dispersed back to their games.

The only ones who stayed were Nan who fell asleep in his lap and Sado who, now that he wasn’t afraid of Mako, seemed fascinated by the Detective. Mako soon found himself falling back into his napping doze.

He woke up to Tesh shaking him. Nan was sprawled out over his chest while Sado had curled up next to Mako. He still wasn’t touching Mako but even Tesh seemed surprised he was that close.

Mako corralled the two kids into the dining room with the rest, where Sirra was serving up dinner.

Mako sat himself next to the toddler again as the orphanage phone rang. Tesh thought she was funny by handing the toddler’s spoon to Mako.

“Feed, Rami,” Tesh said, disappearing around the corner.

Mako turned to the toddler, apparently named Rami, and handed him the spoon. Rami seemed excited by this turn of events and quickly scooped up his food only to dump it down the front of his shirt. Rami seemed even more excited about that.

Mako tried to get the spoon back but had to give up and instead just helped Rami direct the spoon to his mouth better. Sirra laughed from her spot at the table and when Tesh returned she simply shook her head.

Mako really regretted giving Rami a spoon because even after the meal was over the toddler refused to hand it over.

Mako left soon after dinner, Rami still clinging to his spoon, and went home, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. On the last day of his vacation the kids seemed slightly withdrawn.

“Hey,” Mako said at dinner that night, “I usually have the weekends off, would I be able to come in, one of those days on the regular?”

Tesh stared at him. The kids were practically begging her to say yes. Finally, she smiled. 

“I suppose so,” she said.

Mako went to work the next day with a bounce in his step.

“You know Mako,” Lin said, when she finally found him, “most people don’t spend their vacation working another job.”

“I wasn’t working another job,” Mako replied, “I was volunteering, it’s different.”

Lin rolled her eyes. “Well, we might need to talk about your vacation time,” Lin said.

Mako groaned turning to face her. “I’m not taking another two-week vacation,” Mako said.

“I hope you don’t,” Lin replied. “Kid, I had no clue how much you actually did around here until you left. Half my officers proved basically useless without you. I wanted to talk to you about a new position. It comes with fifteen vacation days, and I’m telling you right now, that’s not happening ever again. Instead you work a half day at the end of every other week, unless for some reason you chose to have a vacation.”

Mako kind of liked the sound of that, he just didn’t know what the job was.

“My head deputy is retiring in three months, if you take up a deputy position until those three months are over, the job is yours. I already cleared it with the higher ups,” Lin said. “Let’s stop pretending you aren’t going to be my replacement when I retire, myself.”

“Sounds like nepotism,” Mako joked.

“It would be, if you weren’t so highly competent,” Lin countered.

Mako agreed. The extra time at the end of the week would give him time to himself before he devoted the next day to his orphans, and Lin was right, he was unofficially second in command already.

“Alright,” Mako said, leaning back in his chair, “deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> To Princeasimdiya12: I hope I gifted this to the right account and that this was what you had in mind. It was fun to write. I really do love writing for Mako.


End file.
